Do I need Lao Script for Windows with Windows 7?

Microsoft® Windows 7 (like Windows Vista) includes support for Lao keyboard mapping and a Lao Unicode (OpenType) font Dok Champa, but does not directly provide any automatic text-wrapping capability. Microsoft® Office 2010 does wrap Lao text correctly at word boundaries, without needing the insertion of (invisible) breaks, but does not sort (order) Lao text (in either Word or Excel) correctly according to any of the conventions normally used.

If you are comfortable with using the Lao keyboard, expect to mainly use Microsoft® Word 2010, and do not use any of the other features of Lao Script for Windows, there is no need to install and use Lao Script for Windows. But if you prefer romanized entry of Lao text, use Lao spell-checking, Lao alphabetic sorting, document conversion or any of the other features of Lao Script for Windows, we recommend installing and using Lao Script for Windows. See Features for a list of the main functions provided by Lao Script for Windows.

Can I install and use Lao Script for Windows with 64-bit editions of Windows®?

Lao Script for Windows was not designed for use with 64-bit editions of Windows, however, Lao Script for Windows Version 7.21 has been tested on Windows 7 (64-bit edition), and works correctly with 32-bit applications. Lao Script for Windows cannot be used with Microsoft® Office 2010 (64-bit version) and Lao Script for Windows keyboard mapping will not work with any 64-bit applications.

Versions of Lao Script for Windows earlier than Version 7.21 should not be installed on Windows 7 64-bit editions, and will not activate or work correctly.

Windows 7 editing and display problems with Lao

At the time of writing (May 2010), Windows 7 has an error in displaying Lao text that can make some applications, such as WordPad and StickyNotes, difficult to use. The problem is that after entering text, the text cursor can only be moved to the start or end of the Lao text - it is not possible to edit the entered text without deleting it all.

Fortunately, a very simple work-around has been found: if the Windows Thai keyboard is enabled then disabled again while viewing or editing the text, then the cursor behavior is restored to normal, and stays normal while the document is being viewed or edited. We recommend always installing the Windows Thai keyboard (even if you never use Thai), as some of the software components installed with that keyboard are evidently also used for Lao.

This problem does not affect Microsoft® Office or Notepad.

There are also minor display issues with the Microsoft® DokChampa Lao font, such as incorrectly positioned tone marks and superscript vowel. However, if the standard rule for entering Lao (consonant first, then superscript vowel, then tone mark) is followed, the text will usually display correctly. Alternatively, you can use Saysettha OT or any of the "MX" series Lao fonts in Lao Script for Windows, which do not depend quite as much on correctly ordered text input. (Lao text entered using Lao Script for Windows keyboard mapping is automatically re-ordered if entered incorrectly.)